YouTube’s #1 Astronomer Dr. Becky Smethurst: “Don’t Dumb It Down!” (#069)

  Rebecca Smethurst is known as Dr. Becky on her popular
YouTube channel. She is an astrophysicist and science communicator,
answering questions about physics and astronomy in engaging videos.
Dr. Becky is also the author of the new book “Space at the Speed of
Light: The secrets of 14 billion years for people short on time.”
She joins me on this episode of INTO THE IMPOSSIBLE to discuss her
popularity and the importance of communicating science effectively.
Subscribe to my mailing list to receive show notes for this
episode: https://briankeating.com/mailing_list.php 04:22 Science
communication isn’t “dumbing down” science. 10:07 The value of
citizen science to discovery. 16:44 Working towards gender equality
in physics. 24:24 Balancing the work of being a minority in
academia. 31:36 Dr. Becky explains galaxy quenching. 37:00 The art
and title of Dr. Becky’s physics book. 42:22 What ethical will does
Dr. Becky plan to leave? 46:03 What knowledge would Dr. Becky put
on her monolith? 49:39 What did Dr. Becky think was impossible
until she did it? Dr. Becky Smethurst is a Junior Research Fellow
at University of Oxford, where she also earned her PhD. She studies
galaxy quenching and supermassive black holes. Her YouTube channel
Dr. Becky has over 150,000 subscribers. Buy “Space at the Speed of
Light” here:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1984858696/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_XaxsFbSQ9HCAZ
Watch Dr. Becky’s “A day in the life of an astrophysicist in
LOCKDOWN” video: https://youtu.be/qXkM0ItZ_X8 Find Dr. Becky on the
web: https://rebeccasmethurst.co.uk and Twitter:
https://twitter.com/drbecky_ Would you help with a citizen science
project like the one Dr. Becky describes? Brian Keating’s most
popular Youtube Videos: Eric
Weinstein: https://youtu.be/YjsPb3kBGnk?sub_confirmation=1 Jim
Simons: https://youtu.be/6fr8XOtbPqM?sub_confirmation=1 Noam
Chomsky: https://youtu.be/Iaz6JIxDh6Y?sub_confirmation=1
Sabine
Hossenfelder: https://youtu.be/V6dMM2-X6nk?sub_confirmation=1
Sarah Scoles: https://youtu.be/apVKobWigMw Stephen
Wolfram: https://youtu.be/nSAemRxzmXM Host Brian Keating:
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